Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day

Friday, February 01, 2008

bloggityblog

okay.. I realize that I have a blog creating addiction... I've often wondered if I should scrap the whole thing and start all over...

I have the Frugal Vegan Blog which is supposed to be where I log my frugal ways, in hopes of sharing how I feed my food lovin' family without breaking the bank.

my DC Daily Photo Blog which was a great experiment for myself. I wasn't sure about blogging DAILY! (yikes) and sharing my pictures with the whole wide world .. but I did it. and it was fun, and a fantastic way of documenting our time in DC. But, alas, I no longer live in DC. I know there will be a new daily photo blog in my future, but I'm not sure I'm ready for it yet. Maybe...

& there's this Cre8in Blog which was my attempt to encourage, nurture and allow an outlet for my creative side. (as if that creativity can have only one side!) plus, I happen to love the way I used the 8 in cre8in. okay, i'm a geek. whatever.

and a few other private blogs that I've created for various reasons, all rooted in my desire to write more, to create more, and to keep a record (albeit a loose, fun, not so structured record) of this thing I call my life.

sooo... now, I've been busy with life, and have allowed myself to be a bit more scattered than I normally find comfortable. And, I'm wondering what I want to do with this blogging part of my personality.

I don't think I want to just dump it all. I think I'm ready to challenge myself. What better day to do this than today. On the first day of the second month of a new year. (it makes sense to me, even if it's just a bunch of babble to anyone 'out there')

So... I'll take a baby step here, and try to post every day for a week. I was going to say a month.. but that's just more of a commitment than I'm willing to make right now. WIth this 'everydayforaweek commitment' I plan to post to each of my blogs independently. I've been lazy and copied some of my posts to my different blogs.. (BLA BLA BOring.)

so.. this will be my last (for this week at least) duplicate post.

this is where I get serious. (for a week anyway!) >> Sheesh.. I'm beginning to sound like commitmentphobic.

downed cows going to school

It certainly makes it easy to question whether schools have our children's best interests in mind. At least in this case, it's quite obvious they need to set the bar a bit higher.

I don't know how long the story will be online, so I'll past the text here. I applaud the Humane Society of the U.S. for investigating and sharing this information. Please try the link, but be forewarned, you shall see some disturbing footage.

A nationwide animal abuse investigation and it all ends up in your child's school cafeteria.

The investigation showed a fork-lift being used to shove a “sick” cow into a slaughterhouse.

That video is now the focus of a USDA investigation into a meat company accused of supplying 'bad' meat to schools in 35 states— including Maryland.

Fox 5's Sherri Ly is following the school lunch scare.

Just a short time ago, the agriculture department released a letter saying it has indefinitely suspended the meat company involved from providing beef to its school lunch and federal food programs.

All this came after the Humane Society of the U.S. released disturbing video from a six week investigation.

Even more disturbing, the Humane Society says, is that meat from these potentially sick cows may have ended up in schools.

The Humane Society of the U.S. shot undercover video at a California meat packing plant and says workers routinely tortured downed or "sick" cows to get them on their feet so they could be slaughtered for human consumption.

The Humane Society says meat from this packing plant poses a potential health risk and goes to schools in 36 states through the National School Lunch Program – including Maryland.

Federal law bans downed cows in the human food supply because they may have a higher risk of e coli, salmonella contamination or mad cow disease.

The u-s-d-a says there is no immediate health risk but it is investigating.

The packing plant now says it fired two employees in this video and suspended a supervisor. In a statement the company president said “We are shocked and saddened by what we have seen today. Operations have been immediately suspended until we can meet with all of our employees and be assured these sorts of activities never again happen at our facility."

The Humane Society says what they found should worry everyone since an estimated 95% of Americans eat meat.

It's impossible to tell which schools may have gotten meat from this packing plant, because it's shipped to the state and not directly to schools.

The Maryland board of education today said it relies on the USDA to ensure food safety in schools and has no reason to believe there are any problems.

Parents in Virginia and the district do not have to worry as the Humane Society says they are not among the states or cities that receive meat through the federal lunch program.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Gdiapers > changing the world, one bum at a time.

My daugher has noticed that I've been spending a lot of time on cloth diapering sites lately. Things have changed a lot in the past 11 1/2 years since I first chose to try cloth diapering. I think when I mentioned it at the time, my mom (who cloth diapered all six of us) and my sisters thought I was a bit nutty. (but then, I get that a lot) So I started researching what is new in the cloth diapering community. One company in particular really stood out to both David and me. Gdiapers are a happy little marriage between cloth and disposable. It is a disposable insert in a breathable cloth diaper cover.

Gdiapers appeal to me on so many levels. First, you have this Australian couple, Jason and Kim Graham-Nye, who came to the realization that disposable diapers are the third largest contributer to landfills in the world. And those suckers take five hundred years to break down (to me that kinda takes the practicallity right out of the ease of disposablility!) So this couple decided to take that realization a step (or two or many) further! Gdiapers have been available in Australia since 1991. A couple of years ago, I'm happy to say, Jason and Kim bought the rights to the rest of the world and brought Gdiapers to America.

Like I said, I have been spending a lot of time researching cloth diapering options. There are many. And to be honest, when I first found out I was pregnant, I wasn't totally sure I'd go all the way cloth again. After the kids and I saw the video here which shows the biodegradablitiy of a gdiaper insert next to disposable diapers, I knew I really couldn't come up with an excuse that I could swallow. I mean, I want this world to be a better world for my kids. I don't believe in a disposable planet. I sent the link to David and he was sold in a second. Of course, I kept looking online for all sorts of cloth diapering options... my hubby and daughter had already decided Gdiapers was the way to go. (my son isn't all that interested, I mean, he is eleven, and we are talking about diapers here.)

As if the product itself isn't amazing enough. This company runs on the philosophy of being real and genuine with everyone you encounter. That is something I can stand behind!

I have been in contact with people from Gdiapers. They are very personalble and helpful. Michelle, from Gdiapers, is going to be in DC today. When she first contacted me I thought that was cool, but was pretty sure I'd have a very newborn baby in my hands and that I'd not feel up to meeting for lunch or anything. Well... that babe is still neatly contained and rather portable in my ever growing tum-tum... soooo I'm happy to say that I very shortly I shall be meeting Michelle and some other area gmums & gdads for lunch.

Who knows... maybe the baby was just waiting to be born to give me the chance to meet Michelle! =)